Review: La Palina Mr Sam

Last April the Reddit group /r/cigars had an entire month long ‘cold war’ where people were split into teams for the U.S.A. and Russia. Points were awarded for bombing the other side with cigars. The Mr. Sam I received was as a result of one of those exchanges.

I’m a huge fan of the La Palina Goldie No. 5, so I was eager to try out the Mr. Sam to see how it compared.

Rolled in the El Titan de Bronze factory in Miami, it was produced in a Robusto (4-3/4” x 54 RG), Corona (5.5” x 52 RG) and Toro (6” x 50 RG) sizes.

Vitola: Robusto

Size: 4-3/4” x 54 Ring Gauge

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Cigars Smoked for this Review: One per Reviewer

Price Point: $12.00

Quick Note: For this review we used Logan’s rating system. You can view it in detail here.

Overall Cigar Federation Average Review: 90 AKA “Box Split”

“Every draw gives this perfect combination of complex flavors and just the right amount of pepper.”

Surgeon’s Review:

I took my time to examine the aromas here and the nose here was entirely cedar.

I did a single v-cut and it found the cold draw to be too tight so I ended up doing a double v-cut and the draw was perfect. I was able to pick up a fairly distinct black pepper on the cold draw.

My first few draws produced flavors of sweet honey with lots of pepper. The pepper doesn’t overpower the sweetness and I found it to be very tasty. This first third is so balanced. Every draw gives this perfect combination of complex flavors and just the right amount of pepper. Some cedar is introduced leading into the middle third.

In the middle third more of an earthy tone and the pepper has fallen off quite a bit. At this point it is still fantastic but the Goldie would edge out the Mr. Sam for me. At the halfway point I’m picking up some mintiness and the retrohale is entirely spice.

The last third is a bit simpler with cedar and an earth chaser to close out the cigar.

I’m splitting hairs here comparing the Mr. Sam to the La Palina Goldie No. 5. The Mr. Sam is an absolute flavor treat and will undoubtedly find a home in the ever shrinking capacity of my humidor.